In Goa, the dead can’t rest in peace

In Goa, the dead can’t rest in peace
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: He died alone, but after death he found company.
On May 4, the Agacaim police brought an unidentified body of a middle aged man to the morgue at Goa Medical College, Bambolim, which was laid at the entrance there being no space in the morgue. By Tuesday morning, there were two more bodies to keep this one company and all lay decomposing till the next day.
Luckily for them, they got space in the morgue on Wednesday evening as six bodies were removed by the Goa police to perform the last rites.
Incharge of the forensic department Dr EJ Rodrigues doesn’t deny the problem. “There is a shortage of compartments but we do our best to accommodate,” said Dr Rodrigues.
And they do it either by keeping two bodies in a compartment or keeping them outside. Investigations reveal that about six compartments of the morgue had two bodies each. Besides, which daily three or four bodies lie in the open.
Even as the state prides itself in rapid modernization and exponential sophistication in the health sector, it denies the dead its sanctity. Until the last rites are performed, the dead just can’t rest with peace, dignity and respect, there being no place at the morgue.
Though the morgue at the GMC has a capacity of 35, currently just 28 compartments are in working condition. Of these, 21 bodies have occupied the space for quite sometime, leaving just seven compartments free for new cases. Everyday at least 10 new bodies arrive at the morgue.
Besides the bodies sent for autopsy by the Goa police and those who breathe their last in the GMC, other cadavers are also brought to the morgue. “Most of the private hospitals don’t have their own morgue. Besides, the cost of keeping the body in the morgue at GMC is only Rs 100 a day,” said an official from GMC.
“The problem would be solved once the old cold storage having a capacity of 31 compartments is repaired and reinstalled,” added Dr Rodrigues.
2008 May 09 Times Of India Goa

Visitant turns morgue resident

Visitant turns morgue resident
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: Remember Steven Speilberg’s The Terminal? And Viktor Navorski’s predicament when he realises that he’s been stranded in NYC’s JFK airport with a passport from nowhere as his homeland in Eastern Europe has erupted in a fiery coup while he was in the air en route to America?
Kirlov Sergiy’s fate is somewhat similar. Born in the erstwhile USSR, he identified himself as a Russian when he arrived in Goa sometime in the summer of 2006. The 60-year-old stayed at Arambol, Pernem, for a few months before he committed suicide on August 8, 2006.
That’s when the trouble began. With his passport missing, the police relied on Sergiy’s personal note-book and ‘C’ form (which is filled up while renting a room) to establish his nationality and subsequently approached the Russian authorities. But the Russians refused to have anything to do with the matter, saying Sergiy was not one of their citizens. Then there was speculation that he might be a Kazakhistan citizen.
Only recently, the police stumbled upon his passport and have realised that Sergiy was from Odeca in Ukraine. Although the deceased liked to call himself Russian, that country had stopped recognising his nationality after Ukraine attained independence in 1991.
“We have established his identity and are awaiting intimation from the home department for disposal of the body,” said North Goa SP, Bosco George.
Though his file was moved in December 2007 by the police, Sergyi’s body remains to be lodged at GMC’s crowded morgue. GMC’s forensic department head Silvano Sapeco recently wrote to the police requesting them to expedite the disposal of the unclaimed body.
But till the police do so, the visitor will remain to be a resident of GMC morgue.

2008 May 10 Times Of India Goa